1 The statistics presented in this publication were compiled from data collected in the Multipurpose Household Survey (MPHS) that was conducted throughout Australia in the 2008-09 financial year as a supplement to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS). The MPHS was designed to provide statistics annually for a small number of labour, social and economic topics. The topics collected in 2008-09 were:

2 For all topics, information on labour force characteristics, education, income and other demographics are also available. In addition to these publications, data from the 2008-09 MPHS will also be released as an expanded Confidentialised Unit Record File (CURF) in 2010.

3 The publication Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0)contains information about survey design, sample redesign, scope, coverage and population benchmarks relevant to the monthly LFS, which also apply to the MPHS. It also contains definitions of demographic and labour force characteristics, and information about telephone interviewing which are relevant to both the monthly LFS and the MPHS.

CONCEPTS SOURCES AND METHODS

4 The conceptual framework used in Australia's LFS aligns closely with the standards and guidelines set out in Resolutions of the International Conference of Labour Statisticians. Descriptions of the underlying concepts and structure of Australia's labour force statistics, and the sources and methods used in compiling these estimates, are presented in Labour Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 6102.0.55.001).

COLLECTION METHODOLOGY

5 ABS interviewers conducted personal interviews by either telephone or at selected dwellings during the 2008-09 financial year. Each month a sample of dwellings were selected for the MPHS from the responding households in the LFS. In these dwellings, after the LFS had been fully completed for each person, a usual resident aged 15 years and over was selected at random and asked the additional MPHS questions in a personal interview. Information was collected using Computer Assisted Interviewing (CAI), whereby responses are recorded directly onto an electronic questionnaire in a notebook computer.

SCOPE

6 The scope of the LFS is restricted to people aged 15 years and over and excludes the following people:

members of the permanent defence forces

certain diplomatic personnel of overseas governments, customarily excluded from census and population estimates

overseas residents in Australia

members of non-Australian defence forces (and their dependants).

7 In addition the 2008-09 MPHS excluded the following:

people living in very remote parts of Australia

people living in non-private dwellings such as hotels, university residences, students at boarding schools, patients in hospitals, residents of homes (e.g. retirement homes, homes for people with disabilities), and inmates of prisons

8 For the Retirement and Retirement Intentions topic, the scope was further restricted to people aged 45 years and over.

9 The 2008-09 MPHS was conducted in both urban and rural areas in all states and territories, but excluded people living in very remote parts of Australia overall. The exclusion of these people is expected to have only a minor impact on any aggregate estimates that are produced for individual states and territories, except for the Northern Territory where such people account for around 23% of the population.

COVERAGE

10 In the LFS, coverage rules are applied which aim to ensure that each person is associated with only one dwelling and hence has only one chance of selection in the survey. See Labour Force, Australia(cat. no. 6202.0) for more details.

SAMPLE SIZE

11 The initial sample for the MPHS 2008-09 consisted of approximately 18,000 private dwelling households. Of the 15,233 private dwelling households that remained in the survey after sample loss (e.g. households with LFS non-response, no residents in scope for the LFS, vacant or derelict dwellings and dwellings under construction), approximately 86% were fully responding to the MPHS. The number of completed interviews obtained from these private dwelling households (after taking into account scope, coverage and subsampling exclusions) was 6,647 for the Retirement and Retirement Intentions survey.

ESTIMATION METHODS

12 Weighting is the process of adjusting results from a sample survey to infer results for the total in scope population. To do this, a 'weight' is allocated to each sample unit, which, for the MPHS, can either be a person or a household. The weight is a value which indicates how many population units are represented by the sample unit. The first step in calculating weights for each unit is to assign an initial weight, which is the inverse of the probability of being selected in the survey. The initial weights are then calibrated to align with independent estimates of the population of interest, referred to as 'benchmarks'. Weights are calibrated against population benchmarks to ensure that the survey estimates conform to the independently estimated distribution of the population rather than the distribution within the sample itself.

13 The survey was benchmarked to the estimated civilian population aged 15 years and over living in private dwellings in each state and territory, excluding the scope exclusions listed under Explanatory Notes 6 to 8. The process of weighting ensures that the survey estimates conform to person benchmarks by state, part of state, age and sex, and to household benchmarks by state, part of state and household composition. These benchmarks are produced independently of the survey.

RELIABILITY OF THE ESTIMATES

14 Estimates in this publication are subject to sampling and non-sampling errors:

Sampling error is the difference between the published estimate and the value that would have been produced if all dwellings had been included in the survey. For more information see the Technical Note.

Non-sampling errors are inaccuracies that occur because of imperfections in reporting by respondents and interviewers and errors made in coding and processing data. These inaccuracies may occur in any enumeration, whether it be a full count or a sample. Every effort is made to reduce the non-sampling error to a minimum by careful design of questionnaires, intensive training and supervision of interviewers and effective processing procedures.

19 Due to differences in the scope and sample size of the MPHS and that of the LFS, the estimation procedure may lead to some variations between labour force estimates from this survey and those from the LFS.

PREVIOUS SURVEYS

20 The Retirement and Retirement Intentions survey was last conducted in the 2006-07 financial year. Results of this survey were published in:

21 'Average age intends to retire' is determined from responses to questions on 'age intends to permanently give up work'. In 2006-07, people were required to give an exact age which was then used to calculate 'average age intends to retire'. In 2008-09, in cases where people could not report an exact age, they were given the option of responding with an age range. These range responses were included in 'average age intends to retire' by substituting the low-point of the range into the calculation. This had almost no impact on the item.

22 The following are new data items available to the Retirement and Retirement Intentions survey for the 2008-09 year. For a more detailed list of categories available for these items, see data cube Appendix 1 - B&I and R&RI 2008-09 Data Items List.

Retirement and Retirement Intentions

Main factor influencing decision about when to retire

Transitions to retirement

Transition to retirement plans

Age intends to implement transition to retirement plans

Expected time until implements transition to retirement plans

Sources of funds for meeting living costs

All/main sources of funds for meeting living costs at retirement

All/main expected sources of funds for meeting living costs at retirement

All/main current sources of funds for meeting living costs

Plans for a healthy/active retirement

Whether has considered being physically active

Whether has considered being mentally active

Whether has considered being socially active

Whether has considered being financially secure

Whether has considered doing unpaid voluntary work

Whether has considered being in suitable housing

Health and expenses in retirement

Self-assessed health status

Whether had private health insurance

Whether had a Government health concession card

Housing tenure

23 High reporting of non-personal income money sources (e.g. partner's income, savings or selling assets) to personal income questions in previous cycles of this survey led to the inclusion of 'all/main sources of funds for meeting living costs' data items in 2008-09 to improve this information. The categories for these items are 'personal income', 'partner's income', 'savings or selling assets' and 'none of the above'. The aim was to determine the main source of funds for meeting day-to-day living expenses (currently and at retirement or expected at retirement). As a result of this change, care should be taken when comparing with data from previous years.

24 'Transition to retirement plans' were collected from employed persons aged 45 years and over, through a sequence of questions about changes they might make to their working arrangements before retiring. Examples include whether they would work part time, change their employer or change other aspects of their employment such as working more from home or reducing their responsibilities. For those who reported transition plans, the age at which these were to be implemented was also collected (as an exact age or age range). Range responses were included in 'average age intends to implement transition plans' by substituting the low-point of the range into the calculation.

NEXT SURVEY

25 The ABS plans to conduct this survey again (for core topics only) during the 2010-11 financial year.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

26 ABS publications draw extensively on information provided freely by individuals, businesses, governments and other organisations. Their continued cooperation is very much appreciated: without it, the wide range of statistics published by the ABS would not be available. Information received by the ABS is treated in strict confidence as required by the Census and Statistics Act 1905.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Spreadsheets

27 An electronic version of the tables released in this publication is available on the ABS web site in spreadsheets (cat. no. 6238.0). The spreadsheets present the tables and the relative standard errors (RSEs) for each publication table.

Unit record file

28 An expanded Confidentialised Unit Record File (CURF) will be released in early 2010 from the 2008-09 MPHS subject to the approval of the Australian Statistician. This CURF will be accessible only through the RADL. The CURF will be available in SAS, STATA and SPSS format. A full range of up-to-date information about the availability of ABS CURFs and about applying for access to CURFs is available via the ABS website (see Services - CURF Microdata). For inquiries regarding CURFs, contact ABS CURF Management Unit via email at microdata.access@abs.gov.au, or telephone (02) 6252 7714.

30 Current publications and other products released by the ABS are available from the Statistics Page on the ABS website. The ABS also issues a daily Release Advice on the website which details products to be released in the week ahead.